Abe & Oley Farms is born…

I was cleaning a patient’s teeth and chatting about life the past 6 months since we had seen each other. Anyone can relate to being the patient in a dental chair. You lay there and attempt to converse with your hygienist or dentist, it’s awkward. The thing is, we are trained to understand muffled words and continue on as if it’s normal. She asked, “If you ever have extra eggs or veggies from your garden I would love to buy them.” We exchanged numbers and the rest fell into place. Not really, but in short yes.

Both Ben and I were raised with family gardens and helped grow food; however, we are first generational farmers. In fact, we both have medical degrees and were working in the hospital and dentist field. A federal mandate in 2019 closed dental offices and left me unexpectedly without a job for 3 months. I was at home with my 10 month old son Abe during that time and never imagined I would feel the affects of not having job security. I did all the things we were ‘supposed to do.’ I graduated high school, earned a BS in dental hygiene magna cum laude, was employed in my field, and paying off my student loans. I believe this was the pivotal moment that was preparing us for what would come, the birth of Abe & Oley Farms.

The farm is named after our son Abe and his now late black labrador retriever Oley. The two of them were best of buds and Oley was always very protective of Abe. Oley also spent most of his days protecting the chicken flock and sunbathing alongside them. Both Abe and Oley are family names, which we have a tendency to lean into.

The extra cool thing about this story is that dental patient, who became a customer and friend is still a Homestead Box member 6 years later!

Tiffany

Abe & Oley 2/2023